Hops For Red Ale

[JayBee]

I`ve been enjoying a red ale recently and want to have a crack at an extract version myself. The notes on the back of the bottle say its a mix of cascade and goldings which is not a combination I would have associated together, dunno why. I added cascade to a wheat beer and didnt really like it, although it was on its own.
Anybody used this combination and any ideas which would be best to add to the boil first? The shop bought one is really good, it doesnt say which type of goldings though but I`ve got ekg and styrians.

[Middo]

I love Cascade hops, absolutely love 'em. But then I'm a big fan of American IPAs which use ridiculuous amounts of them. I've only used them in light hoppy ales and usually just for flavour/aroma rather than bittering, however, they do have a relatively high alpha acid content and reportedly work well as a dual purpose hop. That said, I'd probably try using them for bittering and maybe a small proportion at the end of the boil with the Goldings as the dominant aroma hop. But then it's all up to you; why not brew two prototypes and reverse the hopping roles for the other one?

[6470zzy]

If you are not a fan of the mighty cascade hop then I wouldn't suggest using it as your flavouring or aroma addition. That said......I really can't imagine using it just for the bittering, seems like such a waste, you might as well use a neutral bittering hop like Magnum.

Cheers

[leigh1919]

You could go for something slightly spicy like Northern Brewer or Northdown - these would work well with fruitier, redder ales. but yeah- if you dont like Cascade then dont use em.

[JayBee]

Maybe the reason I didnt like them was because I used them in my wheat beer with some dried orange peel and it was too zesty. I`m prepared to give them a go with something else as the shop bought red ale is really nice. I reckon if I throw some cara red into the mix and a little roasted barley along with the crystal it could work. The northern brewer could be interesting too.

[beer gut]

Hi i did Red bitter using Cara red malt and let's say that malt is stunning. I used three diffrent hops in the red bitter i used challenger, east kent golding and progress as a blending hop, these hops worked very well in my red bitter caus there is fruity taste with blanced bitterness. You could use first gold that hop has quite high aau's about 7.2% it also has very good aroma qualitey's so you can use it for bittering and aroma a true dual pupose hop.First gold blend's well with other hops very well if needed.Hope this helps, beer gut .

[JayBee]

Methinks I shall hold off this brew for a couple of weeks until I can get another hop order in ! Lots of good ideas coming in and interesting combinations.
What proportion of cara red would you use with the crystal ? I wouldnt expect it to be a straight swap. I havent got any recipe books yet although Santa should be bringing one in December which will be a big help.

[haz66]

What proportion of cara red would you use with the crystal ?

Cara red should be no more than 10% of your overall grain bill

[haz66]

Sorry forgot to add,
Crystal Malt should be no more than 20% of the grain bill

[beer gut]

hi when i made my red bitter i added a 11% cara red in my grain bill, iam not saying the guy who said to use 10% is wrong in fact he is so right.BThe wright of cara red from hop and grape website says you can use up to 15% cara red in your grain bill, but as i found my bitter is a little darker than i wanted.So i would say when you use cara red use only a small amount in your first brew and then you can always up the percentage in hyour next brew the E.B.C of this malt is 40-60.Cara red also in my experiance gives a similar taste as crystal malt caus after all it is a caramalt so if you want just keep that in mind.